Defending champion Chris Froome nearly crashed out of the Tour de France - after being knocked off his bike when an overzealous policeman mistook him for a fan on stage 17 Wednesday.

Team Sky said there was a miscommunication after the stage while the four-time champion rode back to his bus.

The defending champion, who was looking to win a record-equalling fifth Tour, cracked two kilometres from the finish in a 16km punishing climb up to the Col du Portet on Wednesday.

Geraint Thomas was among the Tour de France riders whose stage 16 was disrupted by protesters on Tuesday and the Team Sky man hopes the remainder of the race will pass without incident. I've won the last three Grand Tours I've done now.

Starting the 17th stage with a deficit of 1min 39sec to Thomas, the Kenyan-born Briton showed rare glimpses of weakness on his way to finishing almost a minute behind his Welsh teammate at the final mountaintop finish of the race at Saint-Lary-Soulan won by Colombian rival Nairo Quintana of Movistar.

Yellow jersey-bearing Thomas latched onto his wheel immediately as did Primoz Roglic, but four-time Tour victor Froome had no response other than to grit his teeth and stick his tongue out.

"As soon as you get carried away, it's when it goes downhill", the two-time Olympic track champion said.

The climber from Boyaca proved to be too strong for his competitors during the 65-kilometer mountain stage of which 42 were uphill.

The Welshman, appropriately enough after a stage that began with a grid start, is now in pole position to win this year's Tour, while his erstwhile leader is scrabbling to hold on to a podium finish and a share of the champagne.

"I didn't want him to have a bad day like he did but it just gave me confidence knowing someone of Froomey's stature was struggling, and I just knew I would be able to respond to the attacks".

He took third place behind Colombian Quintana and Ireland's Dan Martin, but gained time over Froome, Dumoulin and fourth-placed Primoz Roglic.

"I don't [feel exhausted from the Giro], I'm still riding strong, so I'm happy with my Tour so far". But he appeared to be close to conceding this title attempt. The Belgian got back on his bike after disappearing in the ravine for a couple of minutes. "(Thomas) has ridden such an unbelievable race, he deserves to be in yellow and fingers crossed he holds it now until Paris". But the outcome at the summit of the Col du Portet may also herald a changing of the guard for Sky.

In the bid to clear the road and detain the protesters police sprayed tear gas, which then drifted into the peloton and led to riders having to visit the medical vehicle to wash their eyes out.

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Speed restrictions were also introduced by Northern on Tuesday and Greater Anglia on Monday because of the soaring temperatures. A humid plume of air from Europe, blamed by forecasters for the heatwave, has created the ideal conditions for thunderstorms.

Sergio Marchionne will leave Fiat Chrysler Automobiles earlier than planned due to health concerns, according to FCA. The pair are expected to be confirmed their new positions at Ferrari's upcoming shareholders meeting.

Trump tweeted Thusday that the "United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey " for keeping Brunson in custody. He has lived in Turkey for more than two decades. "I forgive those who lie and bear false witness against me".

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The Toronto Raptors recently made arguably the biggest trade in franchise history, but many viewed it as an unnecessary risk. On Saturday, DeRozan wrote an emotional message on Instagram thanking the city and Canada for their support. "I'm confident.

He said they also agreed to resume at an unspecified date joint recovery operations with USA forensic teams in North Korea. A breakthrough came when Trump held a summit meeting with North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un , in Singapore on June 12.

Trump and his long-time fixer, Michael Cohen , can be heard discussing a payment involving former Playboy model Karen McDougal . Just a few months before the election, the publisher of the National Enquirer purchased her story but never published it.

He won more than two-thirds of the votes in the state's 2016 presidential caucuses, surpassing Barack Obama's 2008 vote total. Kevin Yoder , is on Democrats' target list as they aim to seize the GOP-controlled House in November.

Pixels in a smartphone camera sensor are generally larger than 1 μm; the Pixel 2's sensor, for example, features 1.4-μm pixels. However, the new sensor, called IMX586, counters that effect with the introduction of a Quad Bayer color filter.

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